MKT70020 Services Marketing: Barber Shop Customer Relationships

This report discusses strategies for building strong customer relationships in a barber shop setting. It examines various theories such as core service provision, switching barrier theory, social bonds, financial bonds, structural bonds, and customization bonds. The report also explores the relationship development model, emphasizing factors like relationship bonds, financial bonds, social bonds, customization bonds, and structural bonds to enhance customer loyalty. Furthermore, it suggests service recovery strategies like learning from lost customers and treating customers fairly to maintain long-term relationships and improve profitability. The analysis incorporates academic references and aims to provide actionable insights for barber shops to improve customer retention and attract new customers.

Services Marketing
Running Head: SERVICES MARKETING
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SERVICES MARKETING 1
Table of Contents
Table of Contents..................................................................................................................................1
Building Strong Relationship with Customers.......................................................................................2
Relationship development model...........................................................................................................3
Relationship strategies for customer relationship..................................................................................4
References.............................................................................................................................................5

SERVICES MARKETING 2
Building Strong Relationship with Customers
The strong relationship could be effective for a barber shop to make their position in the
marketplace. There are certain theories that could be considered by the barbershop to make
relation with their specified consumers like core service provision, switching barrier theory,
social bonds, financial bonds, structural bonds, and customization bond (Armstrong, Kotler,
Harker, and Brennan, 2015).
Moreover, barber shop would be capable to obtain competitive benefits from the use of these
strategies. From the use of financial bonds, barber shop could focus on three major
components like stable price, frequency reward, building, and cross-selling. These strategies
could be effective for Baber shop to relation their existing consumers and attract new
consumers in limited time and cost (Karnani, McFerran, and Mukhopadhyay, 2016). It
could also be supportive to obtain financial benefits within the targeted time frame.
Apart from this, it is also analyzed that social bonds strategy could be effective for making a
personal relationship with consumers as it would support barber shop to obtain positive
responses. Through this strategy, barber shop could be facilitated to make social bonds
among consumers, which will enhance the possibilities of success. This strategy would aid
the barber shop to make an unremitting relationship with their potential and existing
consumers and enhance their profitability. Apart from this, barber shop could use
customization bonds and make innovative products and services as it would aid to attract new
consumer in the least time (Armstrong, Kotler, Harker, and Brennan, 2015).
The customization bond could assist barber shop to enhance customer closeness towards
their products and services, which would be effective to make a reliable relationship with
consumers. It could also be effective for obtaining higher competitive benefits by making a
unique image of firm among consumer mind. In addition, barber shop could use structural
bonds wherein they could be capable to make integrated information structure. Consequently,

SERVICES MARKETING 3
barber shop could be capable to build a strong relationship with their consumers (Kushwaha,
and Agrawal, 2015).
Relationship development model
The relationship development model is emphasized on how to make strong customer
relationship in the workplace. There are different kinds of factors that are considered in the
relationship development model like relationship bonds, financial bonds, social bonds,
customization bond, and structural bonds (McConnell, 2016).
From this model, it is also found that switching barriers, switching cost, core service
provision, and customer experience management could be effective to enhance the customer
loyalty. This model depicted that once an organization makes loyalty among consumers then
they could be capable to obtain many advantages related to the firm advantages, economic
and human resource management benefits (Baker, and Saren, 2016). Hence, it can be said
that barbershop could use maintain their consumer loyalty to get higher benefits. Moreover, it
is also examined that relationship development model could also support to obtain customers,
social, and ethical benefits.
(Sources: Karnani, McFerran, and Mukhopadhyay, 2016).

SERVICES MARKETING 4
Relationship strategies for customer relationship
Barbershop should use two kinds of service recovery strategies for making a reliable
relationship with consumers like learn from lost consumers and treat consumers fairly. Learn
from lost consumers strategy should be used by barbershop as it would enable to understand
problems of the consumers by collecting their experience. Another strategy is to treat
consumers fairly strategy, which enables barbershop to provide value to their consumer by
treating them fairly. It would effective to create unique image among consumers.
In addition, it is also analyzed that fair treatment with consumer could also support to retain
them for long-term (Kushwaha, and Agrawal, 2015). Besides this, both strategies support
barber shop to get higher benefits by declining the possibilities of failure. Through these
strategies, barber shop could be capable to maintain a relationship with their consumers and
obtain a reliable result. Furthermore, customer relationship strategy could aid barber shop to
make their diverse image among consumer and enhance their profitability. The customer
relation strategy could also be imperative for developing trust among consumers as it would
gain competitive advantages (Baker, and Saren, 2016). From the application of customer
relation strategies, barber shop be capable to maintain their existing consumers and improve
their relationship with them in the specified time. Moreover, it facilitates to maintaining the
existing consumers costs less than influencing new one (Wirtz and Jerger, 2016). In addition,
it is also addressed that these strategies could mandate the barber shop to concentrate on
retention and enhancement of the consumer relationship rather than the attraction of new
consumers.

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References
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015. Marketing: an introduction.
UK: Pearson Education.
Baker, M.J., and Saren, M. eds., 2016. Marketing theory: a student text. USA: Sage.
Karnani, A., McFerran, B., & Mukhopadhyay, A. (2016). The obesity crisis as a market
failure: An analysis of systemic causes and corrective mechanisms. Journal of the
Association for Consumer Research, 1(3), 445-470.
Kushwaha, G.S., and Agrawal, S.R., 2015. An Indian customer surrounding 7P׳ s of service
marketing. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 22, pp.85-95.
McConnell, A. (2016). A public policy approach to understanding the nature and causes of
foreign policy failure. Journal of European Public Policy, 23(5), 667-684.
Wirtz, J., & Jerger, C. (2016). Managing service employees: literature review, expert
opinions, and research directions. The Service Industries Journal, 36(15-16), 757-788.